'''''[=ThunderCats=]''''' is an AnimatedShow from Creator/RankinBassProductions and animated by [[Creator/WaltDisneyAnimationUnits Pacific Animation Corporation]][[note]]Who then further outsourced some of the animation to four uncredited studios - Creator/{{AIC}}, Creator/HanhoHeungUp, Creator/AnimeR and Creator/WangFilmProductions[[/note]], and was one of the most popular MerchandiseDriven cartoons of TheEighties.

Somewhere in the depths of space, a group of aliens with feline-patterned skin/80s glam rock stars with a cat-like theme flee their doomed homeworld of Thundera. Pursued by their enemies, the Mutants, their ship crash-lands on the planet of Third Earth.

The series chronicled the [=ThunderCats=] as they adapted to their new home, making allies and enemies with the natives, and battling the machinations of the series' BigBad, a mummified sorcerer-lich named Mumm-Ra who usually cowed the Mutants into doing his bidding. The show's second season chronicled their return to Thundera and their attempts to re-stabilize it, with an expansion of the cast of other refugee Thunderans.

Check the [[Characters/ThunderCats character sheet]].----'''NOTE: Any tropes related to only the 2011 reboot of the show should be placed in the ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' page.'''----!!''Sword of Omens, grant me tropes beyond tropes!''

* ActionGirl: ** Cheetara. Remarkably, in several episodes she gets to save the day, on her own, when all the rest of the team has been defeated.** Pumyra and the Warrior Maidens as well. * ActionHoggingOpening: More than a few fans have stated the opening credits are the ''best'' part of the whole show.* AchillesHeel: Mumm-Ra's reflection instantly defeats him. Averted in [[strike:later seasons]] season 2. Doubles as WeaksauceWeakness.* AfterTheEnd: The Thundercats' original homeworld blows up during the {{Premiere}}. There are also hints that Third Earth is the future of our world, but what happened to the human race is not revealed. A few human-looking populations are shown (the warrior maidens, Professor Dometome and his associates). Also, there are some stray humans such as Hachiman, Mandora and Safari Joe.* AmazonBrigade: The Warrior Maidens.* AnimalThemedSuperbeing: Obviously, they're all cat-based.* AnimationBump: The TitleSequence, "Crystal Canyon", "The Telepathy Beam" and "The Wild Workout".* {{Animesque}}* AppliedPhlebotinum: Both Thundrillium and Thundrainium fall into this category.* ArtifactOfAttraction* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: "And wherever evil exists… Mumm-Ra lives!"* BaldOfAwesome: Panthro and Lynx-O.* BaldOfEvil: Safari Joe.* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: The Thundercats universe blatantly disregards many physical facts, but none are as jarring as the fact that apparently everyone can breathe and speak in outer space just fine, thank you.* BatSignal: The Sword of Omens can do this when Lion-O invokes "Thundercats, HOOOOOOOOO!"* BeautyEqualsGoodness: The episode "Good and Ugly" subverted it: the beautiful alien was the evil one, the ugly one good. From the good alien's perspective, Lion-O and Snarf were ugly.* BerserkButton: The Ancient Spirits of Evil do ''not'' take kindly to Mumm-Ra deciding that he doesn't need them anymore after he gains possession of the Golden Sphere of Seti. They're so angry, in fact, that they not only send the sphere far away, they refuse to transform Mumm-Ra into his Ever-Living form, and while they eventually agree to do so, once he reclaims it, they threaten to forever ban him from the Black Pyramid unless he surrenders it.* BigBad: Mumm-Ra* BiggerBad: The Ancient Spirits of Evil.* TheBladeAlwaysLandsPointyEndIn: The Sword of Omens does this a lot.* BullyBulldog: Maa-Mutt* ByThePowerOfGreyskull: ** "Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats, Hoooooooooo!"** "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!"** "Ancient Spirits of Evil...transform this decayed form...to Mumm-Ra...'''THE EVER-LIVING!!!'''"* CanonForeigner: Lynxana, an exiled Thundercat rebel from the Marvel comics* CardCarryingVillain: Mumm-Ra, to the point that carrying an actual card would be redundant. This guy is so enthusiastically and devoutly evil that he practically screams his own wickedness from rooftops.* TheCaretaker: Snarf, especially in the early episodes* CatFolk: They were supposed to be this, but most of the Thunder Cats didn't really look so much like animals, but more like 80's glam rockstars with a cat-theme.** Grune and Lynx-O are some exceptions. Panthro's visible pointy ears also count.** The designs for the new series look more cat-like when paired up next to the originals, though.* CatchPhrase: Both the caption, and Mumm-Ra's transformation spiel. Panthro often says "If we're gonna do it, let's do it."* ChristmasCake: Cheetara. She appeared to be in her late teens/early twenties in the first episode, when Lion-O was still a cub. Then again, nobody ever seems to age in this show.* CodeOfHonour: The Code of Thundera: "Justice, Truth, Honor, and Loyalty."* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Mumm-Ra's armor suit (a copy of Lion-O's) is colored red, in contrast with Lion-O's blue.* CoolSword: The Sword of Omens not only provides Lion-O with "sight beyond sight"; it can seemingly do pretty much ''anything'' he commands it to, including (but not limited to) levitation, shooting energy blasts, and creating force fields.* CosmicKeystone: The Treasures of Thundera* CrapsackWorld: A very dark tome holds records of a time when there was nothing but anguish and despair on third earth. A real page-turner for Mumm-ra.* CuteMachines: Robear Berbils* DarkerAndEdgier: ''The Return'' comic series, and its sequel ''Dogs Of War''. [[{{Squick}} Not kid-friendly]], folks. * DealWithTheDevil: In "Monkian's Bargain", Monkian agrees to allow Mumm-Ra to make him powerful enough to defeat the Thundercats and rule Third Earth. He's so impatient that he leaves without hearing what the price is, and he's too GenreBlind to question why Mumm-Ra is giving him the power and not using it himself. After he manages to defeat the Thundercats, what happens to him is pretty scary, even if he does recover.--->[[spoiler: '''Mumm-Ra''': You rule Third Earth. But it is a kingdom you will never see! Because you can never leave my pyramid!]]* DeathWorld: Visit beautiful Third Earth, home to locales such as the Field of Daggers, the Crumbling Cliffs of Vertigo, and the Burning Sands of the Phosphorus Desert, and that's just for starters! No wonder most of humanity seems to have died out.* DefeatMeansFriendship: Lion-O's theory in challenging Snowman.* DependingOnTheWriter: Is entering the black pyramid a daunting task or a drive-thru?* DescriptiveVille: Their home planet, Thundera* DistractedByTheSexy: Lion-O versus Tashi in the episode "The Doomgaze." And this is ''before'' she uses her titular HypnoticEyes against him. Lucky for him that [[ActionGirl Cheetara]] was there to intervene.-->'''Lion-O:''' She's... so beautiful...-->'''Snarf:''' ''Lion-O...''-->'''Lion-O:''' I-In a kind of ''[[EvilIsSexy evil]]'' way, of course. * DoesNotLikeShoes: The Warrior Maidens go barefoot. So does Tygra, Wilykit, and Lynx-O. Sort of.* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything – The Sword of Omens, which lengthens dramatically when it's time for action, but needs a firm hand on its grip and verbal encouragement... yeah...* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: The Doom Gaze* EightiesHair: '''''Good Grief.''''' Every character who has hair qualifies.* EmpathicWeapon: The Sword of Omens* EpicHail: Lion-O just might be the only action hero whose most iconic move is calling for help.* EpisodeTitleCard* EverybodyLaughsEnding: Normally at something Snarf says.* EvilIsNotAToy: Fully aware of this but driven to grave desperation - with his allies beaten and more and more of third earth falling to the thundercats - a powerless Mumm-ra stands ready to invoke the four lords of all evil, wondering if they will answer his pleas or [[AndIMustScream make him wish he were dead]]. * EvilIsNotWellLit: Mumm-Ra's pyramid* EvilMinions: The Mutants* EvilSorcerer: Mumm-Ra* FantasyKitchenSink* FashionableAsymmetry: Wilykit and Jackalman get this treatment. As does [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Grune the Destroyer]], who only has one saber tooth.* FiveManBand** TheHero: Lion-O** TheLancer: Tygra** TheBigGuy: Panthero** TheChick: Cheetara** [[TagalongKid Tagalong Kids]]: Wilykat and Wilykit* ForTheEvulz: Mumm-Ra ''could'' just ignore the Thundercats and wait for them all to die (since he's, y'know, immortal), but where's the fun in that? This trope does still apply with him, but leaving the Thundercats alone, in his viewpoint, does let them build up. His immortality doesn't help him all that much when he has at least 2 weaknesses, so this wouldn't be wise if he plans to oppose them. Better to deal with them when they're still vulnerable.* ForgotAboutHisPowers: A number of episodes would have ended early if Lion-O had remembered that he could call his sword to his hand.** Mumm-Ra seemed oddly helpless in the Book of Omens despite having more than enough abilities to retaliate or escape.* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: From the safety of his home, Lion-o uses his sword's sight beyond sight to find out about Mumm-ra's latest scheme, only to see the villain speak right at him and address his spying attempts with mockery and accuse him of cowardice. An indignant Lion-o storms the black pyramid, falling right into a trap and providing the last piece Mumm-ra needed to complete his plan - the sword itself.* GenderBender: Several of Mumm-Ra's plots involved him transforming into a female of some form to trap or trick the Thundercats.* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: ** In "Crystal Canyon". when Alluro gets the Keystone and has control over Lion-O and Lynx-O, he says some... interesting stuff.-->'''Alluro''': If you're good, I may even give you to [[DarkActionGirl Chilla]]. What a wonderful pet you'd make.** In "Exile Isle", we get this from Captain Cracker when he chases Snarfer.-->'''Capt. Cracker''': Come back here, you pussylover!* GoodSamaritan: What the Thundercats typically are, much to the [[TheFarmerAndTheViper advantage of Mumm-Ra]]* GRatedDrug: In "Crystal Canyon" and "The Garden of Delights"* GrowsOnTrees: The "fruit" trees include bread trees, candy trees, eggplant trees, cabbage trees, etc.* HilariousOuttakes: The infamous blooper reel, often [[FanNickname referred to as]] ''[[http://www.google.com/search?q=blundercats BlunderCats.]]''* HumanPopsicle: How the Thundercats made the trip from Thundera to Third Earth; Lion-O undergoes a PlotRelevantAgeUp because of a faulty cryogenic pod* IdiotBall: Apparently being in cryogenic stasis not only gives you outrageous muscles and martial prowess, it also makes you [[EasyAmnesia retarded]]. Lion-O is basically a ten-year-old (or however old he was before stasis) in a buff adult body. If there was an Idiot Manchild trope, he'd qualify.* JamesBondage: Tygra, and the [[NeverLiveItDown fandom runs away with it]]* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: What Slithe threatens Lion-O's father with - whom he suspects of hiding weapons plans stolen from the mutants.-->'''Slithe''': You cannot see, but you can ''feel''.* KryptoniteFactor: Thundrainium to the Thundercats* LargeHam / NoIndoorVoice: MUMMMM-RAAAAAA, THE EVERRRRRRR LIVIIIIINGGGGG!!!!!!* LeotardOfPower: Cheetara* {{Leitmotif}}: Every adult Thundercat had one (Lion-O's was based on the main theme), the kittens share one, Snarf had a PluckyComicRelief Leitmotif, and Mumm-Ra had his own scary theme.* LetsYouAndHimFight: Interestingly enough, used by the heroes more often than the villains.** Averted when Mumm-Ra tried to make Lion-O and Hachiman the samurai batlle each other. Altough the heroes were willing to fight, ''[[EmpathicWeapon their swords refused to battle]]''. * LightIsGood / DarkIsEvil: The evil Mumm-Ra is in a dark, dreary pyramid and everything is shades of black or dark blue. The good Mumm-Rana is in a bright pyramid where everything is white and golden.* TheLoad: Snarf and occasionally Snarfer. Sometimes the locals of Third Earth as well if they're tagging along. * MasterOfDisguise / MasterOfIllusion: Mumm-Ra. A great many plots revolved around him disguising himself as an innocent or ally to sabotage the Thundercats. In one episode it's revealed that Tygra's also a master of illusion, not just invisibility. It puts a severe strain on him, though, and takes tremendous concentration and meditation to do (which also provides the necessary [[BellisariosMaxim handwave]] as to why he had never used it before – he was saving it up for [[spoiler:Lion-O's [[RiteOfPassage Anointment Trials]]]].)* MerchandiseDriven* MirrorMatch :In "Fond Memories", Mumm-Ra merges himself with a statue of Lion-O to match his physical appearance, abilities and weapons before dueling against him.* MotiveDecay: Mumm-Ra's overall goal is supposed to be to steal the Sword of Omens, yet in some episodes he has the chance to take without any resistance from Lion-O and either flat out ignores it out or tries to get rid of it rather than taking it.* MushroomSamba: Tygra in "Garden of Delights"* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: ** Cheetara's psychic powers, Tygra's illusion abilities, the list goes on.** One time when Snarf was injured some distance away, Lion-O drew the Sword of Omens and kept saying "Thunder" (No, it's not going where you are thinking) until it was about 15 feet long, then it took off like a rocket with Lion-O hanging on to the handle. To add to it, when he got there, Lion-O used [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower never before seen strength]] to lift rubble off of Snarf.* NeverSayDie: As per the usual, but Wilykit's cry of "He... isn't alive!" is the apex of this.* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The reason that Thundera blew up in the first place is because in the past, Jaga threw the evil Sword of Plundar into the planet's core in order to destroy it and keep it from ever being used for evil. The evil energies apparently caused the seismic catastrophe.** In "The Last Day", the Ancient Spirits of Evil give Mumm-Ra one last chance to defeat the Thundercats. He naturally fails and is banished forever - until the very next episode. As they're about to leave Third Earth for New Thundera, the Thundercats level the black pyramid. The Ancient Spirits of Evil were not happy, so Mumm-Ra was freed and sent to New Thundera to fight the Thundercats again.* NonHumanSidekick: Snarf* TheObiWan: Jaga, on occasion. He even glowed blue.* OhCisco* OneSidedArmWrestling: Lion-O vs a Caveman* OneWingedAngel: [[LargeHam "ANCIENT SPIRITS OF EVIL!!! TRANSFORM THIS DECAYED FORM TO... MUMM-RA, THE EVER LIVING!!!"]][[note]]Known as The Ever-Spying in the fandom.[[/note]] And he does this nearly every time he appears in an episode. Admittedly, the transformation is not as monstrous as some, but the differences between "decayed form" and "MUMM-RA THE EVER LIVING" are pretty severe. But it should be noted that the ability to become "Mumm-Ra" is not a natural ability he possesses, but it's quite literally the Ancient Spirits of Evil giving him a power up. And it's not restricted to Mumm-Ra: Snarf demonstrated in one episode that ANYONE who invokes the Ancient Spirits of Evil in his chamber will temporarily become super-powered. [[FridgeBrilliance - This explains why he only leaves his tomb to fight the Thundercats, and spends the rest of his time in a coffin in the main chamber: if he didn't, then anyone who wanted to could take that power and use it against him, and he'd be unable to stop it.]]** When Lynxo and Cheetara broke into the pyramid, the Ancient Spirits of Evil attacked them. And in "The Heritage" when a treacherous Mummra started the transformation chant, they flat out cut him off and refused. So it may have been a writing inconsistency (not unusual) or the usual Snarf CharacterShilling. Of course if a worthy evil being somehow reached the inner sanctum, he may convince the Evil Spirits that he would make a better servant than Mummra and take the power for himself. %%thus reinforcing the aforementioned Fridge Brilliance.* OurLichesAreDifferent: Despite his [[{{Mummy}} name and bandaged appearance]], Mumm-Ra falls more into this category.* PetTheDog: Mumm-Ra, of all people. Not only is Ma-Mutt his pet, but Mumm-Ra actually shows it affection.** Surprisingly, the Ancient Spirits of Evil get a moment. When Mumm-Ra is abandoned on Thundera (the Thundercats haven taken his Mumm-Raft in order to get back to Third Earth) and only able to communicate with Ma-Mutt via the cauldron, the ASOE are the ones who return him to the pyramid.* {{Phlegmings}}: Mumm-Ra, natch* PlotRelevantAgeUp: See HumanPopsicle.* ProductPromotionParade: The title sequence* PsychoSerum: A crystal which made Tygra think he was smarter and more powerful, and was painfully addictive. Alluro stole it and was the worse off for it.* PutOnABus: The Luna-Taks and Mutants are put on a prison train near the end of season 3 and aside from one episode do not appear again.* ReforgedBlade: The Sword of Omens is broken and reforged not once, not twice, but ''three times'' over the course of the series.* RememberTheNewGuy: Vultureman, Ma-Mutt. Justified in Ma-Mutt's case, as Mumm-Ra summons him from a stone pillar in his first appearance. Vultureman, not so much.* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: S-S-Slithe and the Reptillians* RidiculouslyDifficultRoute: The five-part episode "Lion-O's Anointment", has Lion-O tested by his teammates as a ComingOfAge ceremony that every Lord of the Thundercats must go through to earn the title. In the second one, he actually has to ''race Cheetarah''. As impossible as that seems, Lion-O is allowed to take an alternate route (which makes winning possible, given that Cheetarah can't run at full speed for as ''long'' as he can) but there's one catch - it's far more dangerous than the route she takes. After avoiding a ManEatingPlant, a two-headed monster, and dwarf-like savages, he's able to win. * RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The Thundercats were the noble class of their people, with Lion-O as their ruler.* SaveTheVillain: In the episode "Key to Thundera", Mumm-Ra gets trapped in the Book of Omens and repeatedly blasted by fire. Unwilling to let him roast for all eternity, Lion-O goes in and rescues him.* SchizoTech: Hunter-gatherer robot bears.* {{Seers}}: The Sword of Omens. Cheetara now and then when the plot calls for it.* ShouldersOfDoom: [[spoiler:Tashi]] gets these in ''Enemy's Pride''.* ShoutOut: Snarf is basically a SuperDeformed [[Literature/TheHobbit Smaug]].* [[ShutUpKirk Shut up, Jackalman]]: Slithe's fondness for diplomacy and free discussion along with an [[TalkToTheFist empathetic shoulder pat]] for Monkian quickly "soothed" any unruly behaviour from those two.* SmallAnnoyingCreature: Snarf and Snarfer.* SpeakInUnison: Used in a creepy way. While chanting to send Lion-O to the astral world to rescue Jaga; the Nether-witch's voice starts to overlap with another. [[spoiler: (Mummra revealing yet another of his many disguises and the consequences of Lion-O's decision).]]* SugarApocalypse: They often had said village burned or attacked; they were pretty much the designated DistressedDamsel of the series.* SugarBowl: The Berbils' village.* SummonToHand: the Sword of Omens can do this.* SurveillanceAsThePlotDemands: Both Mumm-Ra and Lion-O have this. Mumm-Ra from a fetid [[CrystalBall scrying pool]] and Lion-O from the Sword of Omens' "Sight Beyond Sight". Really good to find out who's in trouble and where, that.* TalkToTheFist: In "Monkian's Bargain", Wilykit and Wilykat actually ''attacked Mumm-Ra while he was transforming''.* TeamMom: Cheetara, so damn much.* TeamTitle* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Female Berbils? They had flowers on their ears.* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: To prove himself worthy of leadership, Lion-O must vanquish Mumm-Ra unassisted. He succeeds(!), but Mumm-Ra is still back the next episode [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil of course]].* ThemeMusicPowerUp: Despite the theme music playing at various [[PerfectlyCromulentWord dangery]] intervals, it would never be completed. It would go for a verse at most – or more often just a single line – then switch to some other background music.* ThreateningShark: The Black Widow Shark. Cage tours ''not'' recommended. * VerbalTic:** Snarf has this, snarf.** Ssslithe, yessssss?** And the [[RuleOfThree Berserkers, Berserkers, Berserkers]]! They have a tic, tic, tic, too!* VillainBall – As an 80's Children's show, it's to be expected. ** One notable incident had to do with Mumm-Ra getting an Orb which quadrupled his power. The [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Ancient Spirits of Evil]] felt threatened by it with the prospect of being replaced, so they closed the pyramid to him. They couldn't do this ''after'' he finally killed off the Thundercats?** In another, The Ancient Spirits of Evil gave him 24 hours to finally kill the Thundercats, so he decided to do just that. Just as he was about to ''finish Lion-O off'', they declared his time was up and whisked him away for punishment. If they had waited a few more seconds, Mumm-Ra would have actually won.* VillainousRescue: Granted, he had selfish reasons for doing so (he was worried that he would be replaced as the chief servant to the Ancient Spirits of Evil), but if Mumm-Ra hadn't interfered with the Shadow Master's assault on the Thundercats, the latter would have successfully destroyed them.* VirtueViceCodification: The Code of Thundera: Justice, Truth, Honor and Loyalty.* WeComeInPeaceShootToKill: ''{{Thundercats}}'' Episode: "Good And Ugly" had Lion-o attack an innocent alien visitor, then out of embarrassment help the next alien he met, who turned out (of course) to be evil. This was also an example of UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain, as Lion-O fired on the first alien because he was ugly and spoke gruffly, while the second was elegant and cultured. [[{{Anvilicious}} So Now You Know]]. AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle.* WhipItGood: Tygra uses a bolo-whip, but when he uses it correctly, he can turn ''invisible''.* WoundedGazelleGambit: In pursuit of the Lunatacs lair; Lion-O is about to call upon his friends when he hears a plea for help and finds a diminutive - unknown to him yet - Luna who's "losing consciousness". He lays down his sword to assist her, only to be grabbed by her hulking brute of a steed and have the daylights crushed out of him. * YouDidEverythingYouCould: In "Return to Thundera", Lion-O wanted his father to leave Thundera quickly (it's unclear if ever made it at the time). But Panthero told him there was nothing he could have done. "No one can change history. We can only learn from it."----